Chapter 8 — Raising a Demon King as a Pet by Mistake

In her eyes, he was not someone capable of becoming a life partner. Not even the same species. He's just a—

“Animals.”

He closed his eyes. For some reason, this realization made him feel even more uncomfortable than when he was seriously injured by a traitor. Location in the chest— Very painful. But he still doesn't know what this feeling is called. During his seventeen hundred years as the Demon King, there was no record of this symptom.

“…Maybe it really is old love.”

He thought.

“The deity must quickly recover his spiritual power and leave this place.”

But her heartbeat still passed through her chest to his ears. Warm. Calm down. He closed his eyes, allowing himself to stay with this heartbeat for a moment longer. Just for a moment.

—

Chapter 9 Thirteenth day. The adult demons returned early. I was awakened while I was sleeping. The sound of a car engine came from below the mountain, followed by footsteps, talking, and a voice that tried to lower but still could not hide Bach Tu's worries:

"Sir! Sir, you—"

I sat up sleepily. Tieu Ngan next to the pillow has disappeared. There was a strange feeling in the air, like the pressure suddenly dropped before a storm arrived, making it difficult to breathe. I put on my coat and walked out of the bedroom. The living room light is on. Under the light, there was a person standing there. A man. He turned his back to me, standing in front of the ground-level glass door. The tall, thin figure was wrapped in a loose white bathrobe. The shirt, probably found in a hurry by Bach Tu, is a bit short, revealing a slim calf. His hair is silver white. Her long hair was not tied, falling down her shoulders and back, giving off a cold light under the lamplight. He tilted his head slightly. I see the profile of the face. The jaw line is as sharp as if it had been cut by a knife, the bridge of the nose is high, and the thin lips are slightly pursed. The lashes fall into a small shadow area under the eye. The skin is white and almost transparent, and pale blue blood vessels can be seen under the temples. But what surprised me the most were the ears. The hair is not completely hidden. His ears have no human shape. It's pointed. Covered with soft fur. Silver white color. Under the light, the ears occasionally rotate slightly. And behind him— A silvery white tail stretched out from the slit of his bathrobe, long and soft. The tip of the tail is shaking slightly uneasily. My brain stopped working for five seconds. Then— One, two, three… I counted nine tails. Nine silver-white tails spread out behind like a waterfall, each covered in gentle silver light. He slowly turned completely towards me. Amber eyes. Exactly like Tieu Ngan. Clear, like it contains both autumn and a forest of ginkgo leaves. The only thing is, those eyes are now on the face of a grown man. A grown man— Extremely— Handsome. He looked at me. I looked at him. The air freezes. Bach Tu stood next to him, looking like he was attending his own funeral. After that, all the memories began to rewind like a torchlight. Rub your belly. Forehead kiss. Scrub the base of the tail. Use your mouth to feed food. Give him a bath. Teach him to roll around. Say "Auntie loves you the most". Say "you will forever be my darling". Every night he sleeps next to my pillow. The tip of his nose pressed against his collarbone. When I changed clothes, he turned I used my tail to cover my eyes— While I was changing clothes— He—

“Ah ah ah ah ah!”

I screamed so loudly that I almost broke the remaining glass in the living room. He was so scared by me that his ears were immediately pressed back. All nine tails ruffled at the same time.

“You… you brother you…”

I trembled and pointed at him, took three steps back, my back hitting the wall.

"You... Tieu Ngan... you are..."

“…”

He opened his mouth. The voice was low, like the resonant sound of a cello. Completely different from the weak "uh uh" sounds. It was the voice of a grown man.

“The deity…”

He said.

“Dung Cuu Uyen.”

“The chief of the silver fox clan.”

“You… why have you… since when… have you always…”

“It's always been that way.”

His voice was calm, but I noticed that the fingers holding the strap of his robe had tightened until they turned white.

“The young one you cared for… from the first day was a deity.”

Quiet. Completely silent. My brain operated at unprecedented speed, replaying every image of the past thirteen days. While bathing him, I rubbed the base of his tail— In the demon race, what does that equate to? I used my mouth to feed him. I kissed his forehead. I rubbed his belly. I hugged him to sleep for twelve nights. I told him:

“You're the kid I like the most.”

During the video call with Mieu Mieu, I said:

“It's just a small fox the size of a hand, what does it understand?”

At that time he was sitting on a pillow. He heard it all. He understands everything.

“I…”

My voice sounds like a strangled duck.

“I… you… I flicked… I squeezed your foot pads… I even forced you to roll around… I…”

“You also said…”

His voice was still calm, but in his amber eyes something was crumbling.

“Love me the most.”

“I…”

“Feed me for life.”

“That…”

“I am the treasure in your heart.”

“I say the same for every child!”

I blurted out. As soon as I finished speaking, I immediately regretted it. Because I saw his expression change. It was a change I cannot describe. It's like someone split a statue in half from the middle. His eyes turned from calm to blank, then from blank to a profound darkness that I had never seen on anyone's face.

“Every child is the same.”

He repeated.

“She said those words… to all the cubs.”

“No, I didn't mean that…”

“Rubbing the belly, kissing the forehead, eating together, promising a lifetime…”

“You perform a contract ritual with all furry creatures?”

"I didn't know it was a contract ceremony! I thought it was just taking care of a normal pet!"

He was silent for a long time. Then, he smiled slightly. Silver white hair fell to the side of her face, amber eyes reflected the light. That smile was very light, very faint. Like the first snow of winter falling on the still warm ground, before it could accumulate, it melted.

“So that's it.”

He said. The voice is still stable. But the tip of the ear was so red that it was almost bleeding. He turned around, his nine tails slowly retracted, his back straight and lonely.

“Disturbed.”

He walked towards the corridor deep inside. I looked at that back, watching the nine silvery white tails disappear one by one at the end of the dark hallway.